Animal trap



Dec. 6, 1932. w, I S 1,890,377

- ANIMAL TRAP Original Fi l ed Au 10, 1926 4'Sheets-Sheet 2 g: /%cs .xrzw aqi Dec. 6,1932. w. A. GIBES 1,890,377

' ANIMAL TRAP Original Filed Aug. 10, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I ANIMALTRAP Original Filed Aug. 10, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 @5 4 k Ll k J6Patented Dec. 6, 1932 when increases-HOLLY ominntawaim L manna I U Aucam 'niea August 10, i926, Serial No; 128,438. nae-min m; eaoflgg Thisinventionrelatesto improvements in animal traps,and one of the objectsof the invention is to provide a trap for 'catchmg animals that will bemoreefiicientj thanth traps now commonly employed. j Another objectofthe invention isto pro duce in practical form a "humane trap forcatching animals. I a e Many animals fairly caught in the presentforms'of steeltraps escape by pulling out or by amputating the leg orp'art'grippedby the trap. Other forms of traps also lack efliclency dueto the length of time that elapses between V the time the animalis-can'ght and'the'time it dies. or loses' its powers ofre'sistance.,Much of this ineilioien'cy-can be obviatedeby killing the trappedanimal quickly after it is caught in the trap, and it is apparent.that'thehumane object also is accomplished inthis man: ner by relievingthe suffering of the animal.

It is, therefore, a specific object of the present invention to provideefficient and'huma'ne means for quickly killing the animal after itiscaught. 1

The inventionfurther contemplates the utilization of'the naturalinstinct of self-presen vation which oausesa trappedanimal to fight andto biteat those parts-of the trap which restrain it, and it' accordinglyis a, further A object of the invention toprovide drug orpoison-containing receptacles or holding means puncturable bythete'ethofthe animal and so" arranged in the trapthat thetrapped animalmay reach them to bitezand rupture them. The efliciency of the devicemay be improved by attaching the poison or drug containers in suchmannerthat the attention of the trapped animal will beespeciallydirected tothem'. i In the attached drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view'ofa trap made in accordance with my invention, the trap being shown inthe open position;

Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the. open trap showninFigly" Y V Fig. 3 isa top view ofthe trapshown in Figs. land 2 when closed; a

Fig. 3a is a section on the line b'b, Fig. 3;

gfi-is a side view of the 'inFig. 5; f

thosefamiliar with the art-P. f

V The aws 33:'a're actuatedinthe present I h 'Fig. 1a is a section ontheline a a, Fig. 1

Fig. 4 is a side elevationjof thes-trap closed I v 'asshowninF-ig'fi; I

Fig. 5 is a planview of a secondfform of trap embodying my invention,the trap heing in the open or set position; a I,

. P t p new I Fig. 7 is a top view oftheQtrap -qwii 11i,

Figs. 5 and 6 but in 'theclosedposition,-'and Fig. 8 1s a side elevationof the trap-in the -99 sprung condition.

"Referring toFigs. ltog i, inclusive, i

therein illustrated comprisesjthe usual bafsel- 'consisting'of a flatsubstantially rigid"steel strap 1 havingupturnedend portions12inv whicharejiournaled jaws "The basefurther comprises a transverselye'xtendingarm 4: towhich is pivotally secured,' at 5.atreadle 6, and the armi4also carries loosely A secured thereto at its outer end a latch memher 7whichwhen the trap is. set'as shown in Fig. 1 overlies one of the jaws 3andhas-its free end secured under the rear portion of the treadle 6,thereby locking the jaw in the open position. The generalformgan'd'operation 76 of these'parts will be; readily understood byinstance through a pivoted. actuating lever having ,anjaperture' 9adapted' to embrace O i 7 one end'of the jaws 3 3 in well known man:ner. This actuating lever afwhichis of well known 'form is-actuatedby-means in the pres enttinstance iofa spring 11 carried gbyiaf rod j12-whose endsare supported respectively in thearms ,1 and t-of-the hase,as" shownsin Figs. 1a and 3a; and which also constitutes the pivot ofthe actuating lever; 'One'en-d of the spring. 11. underlies the arm .4,while the 7 other end of the spring bears against the back h I 1 or.underside of the actuating :lever 8, :the

spring 11 thereby tending to force theactuat; ing lever upwardly fromthe positionpwhich it occupies when the trap isse't, as shown in Figs. 1and 2, to an elevated position shown '9 in Figs. '3 and 4, in'which thejaws are pressed and held together by the spring through the medium ofthe said actuating leverlr 5 'In the present instance, I have secured tothe outer end of the lever 8fl by means ofxa staple 13 a container 14for a drug or poison I to'be administered to theanimal. :The container.14 preferably is elongated and projects beyond the outer end of thelever 8 ,as clear- 1y illustrated, whereby when the trap" is sprung andthe lever 8 has assumed the elevated position, thecontainer l i iscarried into a conspicuous .pojsition, withrespec't tothe made-of amaterial readily"pun'cturable'by" l the teeth of the animal, and I havefound rubber well adapted for this purposeyal though there isnolimitation in the material The container illustrated consists of apiece trapped animal so that. the attention of the animal is directedtoit. The container is of which the container ismadel 'ofirubber tubing 15forming thebody of the tainer, is secured to. the actuating lever 18 bymeans of av staple 13"which,-as well illustrated in Eigsgl and2,consists of a loop .ofwire passed around thecontainer l4, and throughapertures 17'17 in the lever Sand twistedcontainer which; is. filledwith the, drugor. poison and whichjis thereafter clamped at the ends bymeans ofmetal clips 16, as clearly illustrated. As previously stated,this contogetheron} the under side of the'lever, asil f jlust'ratediat18 in Fig. 2. 1- Other'methods,

however; may be used to secure the container in. position, although itis desirable that' the retaining means: besuch that a. rupturedcontainer may be readilyremoved andxreplaced by anewonef In the form oftrapiillustrated' in Figs. 5 and 8, inclusive, I have illustrated othermeans for causing the'trapped animals attention to be directed to thedrugor poison container so that there will be a natural tendency foritito bite the container. In this instance, thebasecomprises anelongated arm "'21 which-supports near its opposite ends bracket arms2222 in which are jzournaled thewendsof the Mrs-'23. The basealsocomprisesa transversely extending" arm -24 to which is pivotal'ly secured at 25a. treadle '26,

and loosely secured to the outer'end'of this arm 24 is a latchQZwhose'inne'rlend, when the'iztrap set, fits beneaththe treadle '26 inlevers-"28', each of: which has a central aper- :well known mannerandretains the jaws 23in the. open: position. In this-instance the trapcomprises two" piyotally" mounted actuating ture. 29 adaptedrespectively to embrace the opposite ends of the jaws 23 in well knownmanner tohold the jaws-fin the closed position. 7 The. actuating levers28 are actuated by a" pair of springs .3'1-3'1 which are held 7respectively onthe parallel arms of a shaped rod: 32: held a suitablemanner on the arms 21 and 24 of the base; Inthe present instance,thesesa'me. parallel arms of the rod 32Lcohstitute pivotal supports'for' the actuat- I ing 1evers.28.:' One end ofieaclr of the springs3'1lies'un der the arm 24, while-the opposite ends of the springs bearagainstthe backor under sides offthe respective actuating levers 28 andtend to force these levers into an elevated position to bring the jawsto gether and to so retain them.

In the present instance, the extremities of.

the arm 21, of the base are turned downward- "sideofthe arm' -2l a guide35 for said rod 34 -ly, as wellishown in Figs. (Sand 8, and each" s endis provided with a T-shap'ed recess 33 ,-see

-fFiggT, in which recesses are adapted to slide a fiat r0d34. I alsoprovide on the under which in conjunction with the 'down turnedextremity 36 of said rod functions also as a stop limiting theslidi'ngmovement of the arm in one directiom'as shown in Fig. 8.

37, in the upturned "endsof whichis mounted At the outer end of the rod3,4 is a cross arm a shaft or rodj38 on which is journaled'an arm 39,thisarm 39 having two branches, as clearly illustratedpheld by thesaidshaft 38.

The shaft .38 also carriesa springl which operatively engage s onebranch of the arm 39' shown in Figs. 7 and 8,. At the outer end of thearm. 39fis secured bysuitablenieans a container, a2, such as thatpreviouslydescribed, whichcontains atube of poison and v and tends toelevate the arm into the position which-is so made as tobereadilypunctured v by the teeth of an animalcaughtin the'trap wherebythe drug or poison 1may ,be self;

administered-tosaid'animah 'The holding means in this instance:consistsyofapin 4:3 detachably held in lugsor ears 44,44; on'the Whenthe trap is set, thefsliding and the arm 39 are made to assume theposition illustrated in Figs; 5 t and '6, the'sp ace betweenthe-branches of the. arm 39 being suflicient to enablethem. to embracethe actuating levers 28; Whenfthe trap is set,- there" fore, thebranches ofthe arm 39 underlie-thespread jaws 23, as shown in. Fig. J5,and by these jaws the arm is maintained in the depressed position. Whenthe trap is sprung, however, and the jaws are elevated, the arm 39immediately swings upwardly, and then 34, a whats the animal in itsefforts pulls-the trap against the anchor chain 46, the entire trap ismoved outwardly on therod 34' until'furthermover ment is prevented bythe-arm 39 "which emi a 'mal. which isheldinthetrap and restrains ibracesthe body-,leg or that partjof the: aniit from further movementawayfrom jtheanchor. The animal feeling the'rest rai'ning effect of thearm 39instinctively attacks that part and has a tendency to biteth'eeontainer,

42 and thereby administer to itself the contained drug or poison. 7

It will be understoodthat the device in principle may assume otherembodiments from those herein illustrated, and that in its essentialfeatures the invention resides in attaching to a trap a puncturablereceptable the attention of the directed to it.

I claim:

1. Ananimal trap comprising means for gripping and holding an animal, arupturablev container movable into position to be iuptured by thetrapped animaland means for moving said container. a

2. An animal trap comprising means for ipping and holding an animal, aruptun able container on said trap lying in an inconspicuous posltlonwhen the trap 1s set, and means operable to move sa1d contalner into aconspicuous position so that the same may be ruptured by the trappedanimal.

3. An animal trap comprising means for.

gripping and holding an animal, a ruptur able container on said traplying in an inconspicuous position when the trap isset,

and means for rendering said containercon' ment so disposed Wit normally'unalluring l relation to said means that fitris subject to attack bythe trapped animal." WALTERA. GIBBS.--

spicuous by operation of said grippingand holding means.

4. An animal trap comprisingmeansf for gripping and holding an animal,.a rupturable contalner on sa1d trap and means operable upon actuationof said gripping and holding means for conspicuously displaying saidcontainer to said trapped animal.

5. An animal trap comprising means for V gripplng and holding an,animal, means for setting said trap. an arm pivoted to the trap andlying beneath the gripping and holding means when the trap is set. saidarm normal- 1y opposing setting of said gripping and holding means, arupturable container on sa1d arm lylng in an 1nconsp1cuous positlon whenthetrap is set and means for moving said arm and receptacle toconspicuous position when the gripping and holding means are actuated.

6. In an animal trap, the combination with.

animal-retaining means, of a receptacle available for attack by ananimal held by said re, taining means and vulnerable to said attackwhereby the contents of the receptacle may be self-administered by thetrapped animal.

7 In an animal trap, the combination with animal-gripping jaws. andactuating means therefor, ofa receptable available for attack by ananimal gripped by said jaws and vulnerable to said attack'wherebv thecontents of the receptacle may be self-administered by the trappedanimal.

8. In an animal trap, the combination with animal-gripping and-retaining means, of a drug-containing V ele-

